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No Trump endorsement from Bush 41 or 43

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For the first time in decades, it appears the 2016 presidential election will not include an endorsement or convention appearance from President George H.W. Bush or his son, President George W. Bush.

The Texas Tribune reports that both former presidents have indicated through their spokesmen that they’ll be sitting this one out:

“At age 91, President Bush is retired from politics,” McGrath wrote in an email Wednesday. “He came out of retirement to do a few things for Jeb, but those were the exceptions that proved the rule.” His son Jeb Bush dropped out of the GOP presidential race in February.

Bush 43, meanwhile, “does not plan to participate in or comment on the presidential campaign,” according to his personal aide, Freddy Ford.

Considering the tone of this campaign, it’s not a big surprise. The Republican electorate has not been entirely friendly to the Bush legacy this time around.

Between the outright rejection of Jeb Bush and Trump actually suggesting that Bush 43 held some level of culpability for the terror attacks of September 11 because they “happened on his watch,” it hasn’t been a good cycle for the Bush brand.

Even though Bush campaigned for his brother in South Carolina and made an oblique reference to Trump on the stump by saying “the strongest person usually isn’t the loudest one in the room,” for the most part, the Bushes have stayed out of the GOP conversation.

As Trump attempts to unify the fractured party, he might have welcomed a replay of George the elder supporting his long-time foe Bob Dole in 1996 when he got the party’s nod, or when George the younger campaigned for John McCain despite their nasty and tumultuous political history.

But, maybe not. Trump has run an anti-establishment message to victory and you don’t get much more establishment than the Bush clan.

 

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